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There is no trophy for finishing fourth in the Premier League. Just ask Arsenal fans. However, Arsene Wenger has repeatedly told anyone willing to listen that finishing in that spot is more important than winning a cup competition. Of course, he would say that. The Gunners have not won a trophy since the 2005 FA Cup but have qualified for the Champions League for 16 years in a row. For many years, Arsenal finishing in the top four should not have been considered a success. Last March, however, Wengers men lost 2-1 at White Hart Lane to fourth-placed Tottenham and trailed their North London rivals by seven points with ten games to spare. Spurs would go on to falter, while Arsenal hit top gear, going on to maintain their qualification record for Europes elite club competition. Andre Villas-Boas team finished fifth, one point behind Arsenal for the second straight year. Over 38 matches the margin was as slim as it was painful. Tottenham became the first team in Premier League history to get to 72 points and not finish in the top four. The 1.89 points per game was their most successful season point-wise since 1967. Yet, nobody knew or cared. They had finished outside the top four, missed out on the Champions League and were about to lose their best player in Gareth Bale. Bales brilliance last season made him virtually irreplaceable. In the 17 Premier League games he scored in last season Tottenhams record was 14 wins, two draws and one loss. He was that important. However, under the guidance of new technical director Franco Baldini, Spurs had a fabulous summer in the transfer market, spending over 100 million pounds on Roberto Soldado, Etienne Capoue, Paulinho, Vlad Chiriches, Nacer Chadli, Erik Lamela and Christian Eriksen. None of those players were Bale, but Bale was winning Tottenham matches last season which regularly featured players such as Scott Parker, Tom Huddlestone, Clint Dempsey and Benoit Assou-Ekotto. "We are stronger than the previous year, we had problems last year when we had a couple or replaced some key players, now we have quality in depth," said Villas-Boas after a win over Norwich earlier this season. Quality in depth has not led to an improvement so far. The 2013/14 season was supposed to be a season where Spurs fans wouldnt be reminded of the loss of Bale. Sixteen games into the Premier League season and the White Hart Lane faithful are still waiting to move on. If their Premier League campaign took a wrong turn in a recent 6-0 thumping at Man City, it officially went off the rails on Sunday when they were humiliated 5-0 at home to Liverpool. "This is a game all about the brilliance of Liverpool," preached the commentator at the conclusion of the match, and although Brendan Rodgers side performed very well, the harsh reality for Villas-Boas was his side were absolutely pathetic. Sure, Luis Suarez scored at least one goal, of his two, that few players in the game could have scored, Jordan Hendersons runs from deep terrorized Tottenhams makeshift back four and Paulinhos red card at 2-0 didnt help, but anyone who could make a claim that Tottenham didnt deserve to lose by five goals would be missing the point. They were outclassed in all departments by a Liverpool team who last season won just one game from 12 against the top six. It was an alarming defeat that even his admirers struggled to back him after. It was a minority group growing quieter by the week. By Monday morning, when he was sacked, few felt it was the wrong decision. You see, the 36-year-old does not endear himself to others. Publicly, this season he attacked his own fans, his own players and the media. When he said his team needed to be ashamed of themselves following the loss at Manchester City those in his camp could have said the language barrier may have been to blame for a misguided, harsh attack on his players. However, when he took on the teams supporters following a home win against Hull City there was nothing for his backers to hide behind. "This victory belongs to the players, they did it themselves, playing in a very difficult atmosphere, with almost no support coming. We have a wonderful set of fans but I am pretty sure they can do better and they know they can do better." It was the sort of quote, Jose Mourinho wouldnt have even got away with. It was a remarkable statement from a man who has had been at the club for less than 18 months, and achieved nothing as a manager in England. A win in the league cup a few days later, against Hull again, apparently, according to Villas-Boas, saw the fans get back to the level the manager demanded. However, football fans have long memories and the manager had picked on the wrong group. His next target was the media. After drawing 2-2 in the week, following the loss to Man City, he said: "the pressure this week was aggressive and agenda driven, (I am) very fortunate to have a group of players who responded in this manner to show the unity of the group." There is little doubt that some writers, and radio personalities, in England did not believe Villas-Boas is good enough to manage Tottenham. However, targeting certain individuals for things they wrote, online and in the newspaper, showed a touchy, oversensitive side from Villas-Boas at a time when he needed to stay away from the headlines. He is not a man blessed with the charisma of Mourinho - very few are - but in his media interviews, through the directness of his answers, comes confidence and a self-assurance that would point towards not caring what others think. Yet, the current court of public opinion is England, a country, yet to be convinced by a man who Chelsea fired less than a season into the job, and easily influenced by what pundits and writers have to say. It is a battle that Villas-Boas, who was hired, for a reason, to take charge of two huge clubs in England before he turned 35, could only win by proving himself with his team. And that is where he needed to turn, to his players, to find the vindication he so clearly needed. However, the players, bankrolled by Daniel Levy, and trusted by Baldini, to deliver, so far did not perform anywhere close to the level Tottenham require and thats why Villas-Boas has lost his job. The nonsense in the media, making him bigger than the club, certainly contributed to it but ultimately he didnt get the best out of the players and the way they were humiliated at home to Liverpool is sure to send thoughts of doubt into the players mind about their manager. Once that happens, a change is necessary. Goalkeeper Hugo Lloris was signed to excel behind a high back line but he repeatedly made poor judgements coming off his line and has costed the team a number of goals already this season. The 6-0 loss at the Etihad embarrassed the incredibly high line their defence play with and they were able to take seven points from a possible nine following that when they sat deeper, yet they returned to that style against Liverpool and were badly exposed in that area again. It is clear Capoue and Michael Dawson have no understanding together but the fact the manager decided that approach at the start, and stuck with it throughout the game, leaves many to question his tactical acumen. Surely, Capoue, covering for many injuries at the centre back position, would have been helped by playing closer to his goalkeeper and keeping Suarez in front of him more. Further up the pitch confusion remained. Against Manchester United, Spurs started, and finished with, three central midfielders for the first time, but Paulinhos inclusion, alongside Sandro and Moussa Dembele, was merely to play off the front striker, pushing the wingers slightly deeper in a formation that could be labelled 4-4-1-1. That is how he began the match against Liverpool, but by the time Paulinho was sent off, he had gone from being the most attack-minded central midfielder to the deepest holding midfielder behind Lewis Holtby and Chadli, after Sandro left through injury and the ineffective Dembele was substituted. Paulinho is one of the clubs best players and his manager needed to decide whether he is best suited as an attacking midfielder, like he played at Corinthians, or as a defensive midfielder, sitting deeper and making occasional runs forward, like he does for Brazil. Spurs could have played a midfield three the way Liverpool did - having one holder and two runners in front of him - but that requires their wide players to perform and this season this has not been a strong point for Tottenham. In Soldado, they have signed a player who scored all of his La Liga goals last season in the penalty box. He needs service. He is certainly culpable for the clubs issues in front of goal as well, but Villas-Boas system did not get the best out of his wide players with many cutting in too often, and those staying out wide delivering far too many poor crosses. It is easy to point to the many shots on goal and the brilliant performances of David De Gea and Tim Krul, in particular, to deny them in recent matches but there is a glaring issue with their unity in attack. Too many goals have come from long-range shots, errors by their opponents or penalty kicks and too few have come from moves created by themselves. The Villas-Boas high defensive line has some strengths but the fact is he has just 22 clean sheets in 81 Premier League games as a manager. Games come thick and fast this time of year and we are less than two weeks away from the Premier League season being half over. Villas-Boas ran out of time to find a system and style of play that can get the best out of his players. On Sunday he disagreed, saying: "I do not need to convince anybody, our run in the other competitions have been magnificent, our form in the Premier League is not there but our ambition to win trophies is still the same, the ambition to qualify for the Champions League is still the same." It turned out beating up on the likes of Aston Villa, Hull (on penalties), Anzhi, Tromso and some team called Sheriff meant little at this time. A trophy for the fans would be great but at the moment many of those matches have become an inconvenience where the form simply does not translate to the league. Finishing fifth last season, and not fourth, denied Villas-Boas a real European theatre to perform, allowing him time to get over any issues he has domestically. There is no trophy for finishing fourth in the Premier League. But there is little doubt it offers a manager real security. Just ask Arsene Wenger. Benson Mayowa Jersey . -- Kansas City Royals right-hander Luke Hochevar will have Tommy John surgery that will sideline the pitcher for the season. Mason Cole Cardinals Jersey . The Spanish champions decision not to sign a defender during the January transfer window may have backfired after Valencia took advantage of a lethargic, uninspired effort by its hosts at the Camp Nou, where former Spain coach Luis Aragones -- who previously coached the Catalan side -- was honoured after his death on Saturday. http://www.nflcardinalsrookiestore.com/ ... d-Jersey/.? It was his second straight start for the Jets; he suffered a 1-0 loss against Minnesota Monday. So this season Hutchinson has now won games in the ECHL, AHL and NHL. He was perfect three- for-three in the shootout to nail down the win. Brice Butler Cardinals Jersey . The Indians scored twice in the top of the ninth, getting the go-ahead run on a wild pitch by closer Matt Lindstrom. Axford (0-1) came in seeking his fifth save in as many chances. Josh Bynes Jersey . - Pittsburgh Steelers president Art Rooney II says the NFL has told the team it will not be docked a pick in this years draft for coach Mike Tomlins foray onto the field against Baltimore last November.While the results of this season are obviously disappointing for the Vancouver Canucks -- disappointing enough to cost GM Mike Gillis his job -- this isnt necessarily a team in a terrible position. In fact, with a few improvements, this could very well be a decent team over the next few seasons. I will go into more detail when digging into the Canucks Off-Season Game Plan, which will be coming earlier this year since they are part of the non-playoff contingent, there are some reasons to think this is a favourable situation for President of Hockey Operations Trevor Linden and whomever he selects to be the new general manager. This isnt to say everything is just fine, but there are teams in far worse situations than the Canucks. A look at some of the positives: Despite this season going off the rails, the Canucks ranked ninth in Fenwick Close, a measure of puck possession. Among the top dozen teams in that metric, only the Canucks and New Jersey Devils (who are an impossibly terrible 0-11 in shootouts) are not in playoff position. So why is that a positive? The Canucks arent going to the postseason, in large part, because theyve been terribly unlucky around the net. Their 7.2% even-strength shooting percentage is ranked 25th in the league this year after it was middle of the pack -- 15th (8.0%) and 14th (7.8%) -- in the previous two seasons. Its very difficult for a team to stray too far from the average over a longer period of time and while this doesnt mean the Canucks can just assume that they will score more next season, its pretty easy to forecast better luck for this group. As low as the team shooting percentage is at 5-on-5, having the likes of Alexandre Burrows, Chris Higgins, Ryan Kesler and both Sedins, their big minute forwards, all under 8.0% makes it likely that there will be some recovery towards more typical production, particularly because the Canucks top forwards still had strong seasons in terms of puck possession and as long as they are controlling play, the odds are in their favour that more pucks will end up in the oppositions net. Add a bona fide scorer to the mix and the odds of recovery would be even better. The Canucks have a solid group of defencemen. The top four of Dan Hamhuis, Kevin Bieksa, Alexander Edler and Jason Garrison is more than capable of anchoring a playoff team. Garrisons possession numbers took a dive this year but, on the whole, this group isnt a primary issue. Even better, they have relatively economical options Chris Tanev and Ryan Stanton to round out the top six. Tanev is also a viable candidate to move into the top four if one of those named above is convinced to waive a no-trade clause in order to upgrade elsewhere. There was a lot of talk around the trade deadline about Edler being available and, while it must be with the understanding that Edler was the unluckiest of Canucks blueliners this past season in terms of percentages going awry, he would be a top pair defenceman for quite a few teams and, since those arent made available often, he ought to bring a significant return. Also, as I noted on Twitter, the Canucks were on a 106-point pace through the first half of the season, but as January rolled around, they had some overlaapping injuries.dddddddddddd At some point, it was either Edler, Burrows, Roberto Luongo and/or Henrik Sedin missing time and they didnt have the depth to make up for those absences. That lack of depth brings us to some of the concerns that the new management will need to address. One, their core is older. Among the top six forwards in average ice time, 28-year-old Mike Santorelli, an unrestricted free agent coming off shoulder surgery, is the only one that wont be 30 by the time next season starts. On defence, Edler (27) and Tanev (24) are younger, but Garrison turns 30 in November and Bieksa and Hamhuis are already beyond. This doesnt mean that the moment a player hits 30, that they cease to have value, but age makes professional athletes a declining asset at a certain point and, by age 30, the vast majority are declining assets and most of Vancouvers core is in that neighbourhood now. Their goaltending situation, not-so-long-ago enviably deep, is decidedly suspect. 26-year-old Eddie Lack has had an okay rookie season, though if he had played well in January (1-5-2, 2.95 GAA, .908 SV%), that might have prevented, or at least slowed, the teams fade from contention and then his first couple weeks following the Luongo trade (.882 SV% in 8 GP) were a little rough as well but, on the whole, Lack has given the Canucks more than they had any right to expect from him coming into the season. Lack has played well enough to have a shot at competing for the starting job next year, with a veteran added to the mix to provide stability. There are free agents ranging in experience (Ryan Miller, Jaroslav Halak, Jonas Hiller, Brian Elliott, Ray Emery, Thomas Greiss) or a trade option like James Reimer that could upgrade the position from its suddenly subpar standing and an above-average possession team with stable goaltending is most of the way towards the playoffs. There is also the matter of Ryan Kesler reportedly asking out of Vancouver prior to the trade deadline. If that holds true, then there would be at least one blockbuster move to take care of this summer, but Kesler recently indicated that he intends to return to Vancouver next season. Even if they are capable of returning to the playoffs in short order, and thats possible, the Canucks need to beef up their young talent throughout the organization so that, even if the Canucks arent necessarily Cup-bound in the next couple years, that they have enough to be competitive as the core moves on. Young roster wingers Nicklas Jensen and Zack Kassian still have some potential to explore but may not ultimately be top-six performers. Bo Horvat and Brendan Gaunce, first rounders the past two seasons, could provide solid two-way play when they are deemed ready to play, but the Canucks need more. These are the challenges that come with the job for anyone running a hockey team and, given the Canucks above-average core, they have some easier issues to deal with than some other non-playoff clubs that dont have that foundation in place. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. China Jerseys Wholesale Cheap Jerseys Store Cheap NFL Hoodies NFL Jerseys Cheap White NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL T-shirts From China Cheap Jerseys Online NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys Throwback Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping NFL Jerseys Wholesale White NFL Jerseys Cheap Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Camo Cheap Authentic Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys 2019 Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys China NFL Gear Cheap Jerseys ' ' '